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UNiSON

 
UNiSON

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UNiSON



 
 
Unison: Rebels of Rhythm & Dance (sometimes known as simply Unison) is a rhythm
Music video game

A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs....
 video game released for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a History of video game consoles video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation of video game consoles....
 in 2001 which featured unique controls and, at the time, beautiful graphics for its genre of game. It is heavily inspired by J-pop
J-pop

J-pop is an abbreviation of Japanese pop, but is also a loosely defined musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in 1990s....
, anime
Anime

is animation in Japan and considered to be "Japanese animation" in the rest of the world. Anime dates from about 1917.Anime, in addition to manga , is extremely popular in Japan and well known throughout the world....
 and the formation of musical girl group
Girl group

A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally Harmony together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production values and backing by top studio musicians....
s.

d is Waiting for Unison

game's plot, taking place in the futuristic city of Twin Ships, centers around the exploits of three girls - Trill, Cela and Chilly - and mascot Friday as they struggle against the dictatorship of a man known only as Ducker, who can use his voice to exert a hypnotic influence over people and only allow them to experience his peculiar brands of fun, which has outlawed anything creative aside from his own music; dancing, in particular, is especially prohibited.






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Encyclopedia


Unison: Rebels of Rhythm & Dance (sometimes known as simply Unison) is a rhythm
Music video game

A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs....
 video game released for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a History of video game consoles video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation of video game consoles....
 in 2001 which featured unique controls and, at the time, beautiful graphics for its genre of game. It is heavily inspired by J-pop
J-pop

J-pop is an abbreviation of Japanese pop, but is also a loosely defined musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in 1990s....
, anime
Anime

is animation in Japan and considered to be "Japanese animation" in the rest of the world. Anime dates from about 1917.Anime, in addition to manga , is extremely popular in Japan and well known throughout the world....
 and the formation of musical girl group
Girl group

A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally Harmony together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production values and backing by top studio musicians....
s.

Tagline

World is Waiting for Unison

Story

The game's plot, taking place in the futuristic city of Twin Ships, centers around the exploits of three girls - Trill, Cela and Chilly - and mascot Friday as they struggle against the dictatorship of a man known only as Ducker, who can use his voice to exert a hypnotic influence over people and only allow them to experience his peculiar brands of fun, which has outlawed anything creative aside from his own music; dancing, in particular, is especially prohibited. Gathered together by a man known as Doctor Dance - who happens to dress in what passes as stereotypical 1960s attire and possesses a large afro
Afro

An afro also known as a TONY, sometimes called a "natural" or shortened to "fro", is a hairstyle in which the hair extends out from the head like a halo, cloud or ball....
 - the three girls form the musical dance group Unison, and set about putting on a series of performances over Twin Ships' airwaves to rally the public to their cause and bring dancing back to the people. In opposition of Unison are Ducker and his personal servants who routinely try to capture the girls.

Characters

Japanese names are italicized.
  • Trill: Unison's lead vocalist and dancer, she plays the role of the stereotypical ditzy blonde
    Dumb blonde

    The dumb blonde is a popular-culture derogatory stereotype applied to blonde-haired women. The archetypical "dumb blonde", while viewed as attractive and popular, has been criticised as lacking in both common street-sense and academic intelligence, often to a comedic level....
    . Easily excited and eager to do the right thing.
  • Cela: A quiet green-haired girl who seems to have a history with Ducker, and the most logical minded of the trio.
  • Chilly: A tomboy
    Tomboy

    Tomboy is a girl who behaves according to the gender role of a boy.This social phenomenon typically manifests itself through some of these characteristics:...
     who practices Unison's most demanding dance moves.
  • Friday: Chilly's pet robot, the token "cute animal thing" for the story.
  • Doctor Dance (Dance Teacher): The organizer of Unison and the mastermind of their plan to reintroduce the citizens of Twin Ships to dancing. Friday frequently tries to chew on his hair.
  • Ducker: The evil leader of Twin Ships, who is often seen literally riding in an oversized rubber ducky.
  • June Baby (Manajun): A singer trained by Ducker to regain his audience from Unison's pirate broadcasts, easily driven to anger when she's not getting what she wants.
  • Like & Y'Know (Potti & Guno): Heads of the Ducker Fan Club, both of whom are frequently subjected to Ducker's wrath, either on accident or in retribution for messing up a plan. As their names suggest, Like tends to include the word "like" in his sentences, and the same for Y'Know.
  • The Barn Family (Yamashita Family): A trio of average Twin Ships citizens - a man and his wife and daughter - who are fans of Ducker's music shows. As they are subjected to Unison's broadcasts, they are shown to gradually become fans of the girls. They reflect the changing, pro-dancing attitude of Twin Ships as a whole.


Gameplay

At the start of the game, players choose whether to directly control any one of the girls: Trill, Cela or Chilly. This choice roughly corresponds to a difficulty selection - Trill is Normal, Cela is Hard and Chilly is Very Hard. Once a story cutscene has introduced the song to be performed in the next act, the game moves into a practice session to teach the player the movements necessary to successfully pull off the performance. Movements are accomplished by following the on-screen markers using the PS2's analog sticks to mimic the motions of arms and legs throughout a dance; if a character on the screen is waving their right arm, the movement is likely accomplished by rolling the right analog stick like a waving arm.

For the practice session, the song can either be learned in its entirety, or in portions. In the original Japanese release, songs had to be successfully learned in parts, and then as the entire number before moving on. The US release made this process much simpler by allowing the player to keep the markers present throughout the entire game; in the Japanese version, these would progressively be taken away, meaning the player had to commit the dances to memory, making the practice session much more necessary. In either version, the game contains a total of twelve songs that can be played in "Club Tecmo" mode ("Club Afro" in the Japanese version) with up to three players by using a PS2 multitap
Multitap

A multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of Game controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be used in play....
. The song lists have some differences between the versions.

Japanese Songlist and Original Artists

  • Y.M.C.A.
    YMCA (song)

    "Y.M.C.A." is a 1978 song by the Village People which became a hit in January 1979. The song reached #2 on the U.S. charts in early 1979 and reached No.1 in the United Kingdom around the same time, becoming the group's biggest hit ever....
     - The Village People
  • Neraiuchi (Take Aim and Shoot) - Linda Yamamoto
  • First Love - Utada Hikaru
    Utada Hikaru

    , better known by her stage name Utada in America and Europe, and also known by her fans as , is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter, arranger and record producer....
  • Love Machine - Morning Musume
    Morning Musume

    is an all-girl J-pop group from Japan. They are sometimes also referred to as . Their act revolves around singing and dancing to generally upbeat melodies....
  • Seraa Fuku wo Nu ga Sanaide (Don't Make It Take Off Sailors) - Oyanko Club
  • Yosaku (Honor and Virtue) - well-known enka
    Enka

    refers to two styles of Japanese music. The first is speeches set to music which were sung and spread by political activists during the Meiji period and the Taisho period as a means to avoid crackdowns by the government on speeches of political dissent....
     song
  • Boys & Girls
    Boys & Girls (Ayumi Hamasaki song)

    "Boys & Girls" is a song by Ayumi Hamasaki, released as her ninth single, on July 14, 1999. In addition to being Hamasaki's first Maxi single, it was also her first certified million-seller....
     - Ayumi Hamasaki
    Ayumi Hamasaki

    is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. Also called Ayu by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" due to her popularity and widespread influence in Japan....
  • Night of Fire - Niko
    Niko (musician)

    Niko is Seattle, Washington-born musician Nicole Vergel De Dios, to Japanese and Spain parents.She completed a Jazz and Contemporary Music Degree from the The New School in New York City, prior to signing to Grand Central Records independent record label in 2002....
  • Dschinghis Khan
    Dschinghis Khan (song)

    Dschinghis Khan was the West Germany entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in German Language by Dschinghis Khan. It was later covered by Cantopop singer George Lam in 1980s, also by Japanese idol group, Berryz Kobo in 2008....
     - Dschinghis Khan
    Dschinghis Khan

    Dschinghis Khan was a Germany Pop music band, created in 1979 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. The name of the band was chosen to fit the song of the same name, written and produced by Ralph Siegel with lyrics by Bernd Meinunger....
  • Hajimete no Chuu (First Kiss) - Anshin Papa
  • UFO - Pink Lady
    Pink Lady (band)

    was a Japanese female pop music duo of the late 1970s and early 1980s, featuring Mitsuyo Nemoto and Keiko Masuda . In Japan, they are fondly remembered for the incredible run of pop-chart hits they enjoyed from roughly 1976 to 1979, but in the United States, they are best known for their infamously failed 1980 NBC-TV variety show, Pink Lady and...
  • Synchronized Love Millennium - Joe Rinoie
    Joe Rinoie

    is a singer, keyboardist, saxophone player and composer. His father is Japanese while his mother is an Chinese in Japan, thus he is mixed half-Chinese, half-Japanese....


American Songlist and Original Artists

  • Y.M.C.A.
    YMCA (song)

    "Y.M.C.A." is a 1978 song by the Village People which became a hit in January 1979. The song reached #2 on the U.S. charts in early 1979 and reached No.1 in the United Kingdom around the same time, becoming the group's biggest hit ever....
     - The Village People
  • Country Grammar
    Country Grammar

    Country Grammar is the debut album of hip hop music artist Nelly. It was released on June 27, 2000. The album was a huge mainstream success....
     - Nelly
    Nelly

    Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapping, singing, actor and entrepreneur. He has performed with the rap group St....
  • We Are Family - Sister Sledge
    Sister Sledge

    Sister Sledge is an United States musical group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 1972 and consisting of four sisters: Kim Sledge , Debbie Sledge , Joni Sledge , and Kathy Sledge ....
  • Stop the Rock - Apollo 440
    Apollo 440

    Apollo 440 are an England musical band formed in 1990 in Liverpool, England by brothers Trevor and Howard Gray with fellow Liverpudlians Noko and James Gardner , although Gardner left after the recording of the first album....
  • Barbie Girl
    Barbie Girl

    "Barbie Girl" is a song in the bubblegum pop Music genre by the Denmark-Norway dance music-pop music group Aqua , who released it in 1997 in music as their third Single overall, and the first United Kingdom release....
     - Aqua
    Aqua (band)

    Aqua is a Denmark-Norway dance-pop band , perhaps best known for their 1997 breakthrough single Barbie Girl. The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s....
  • Yosaku (Honor and Virtue) - well-known enka
    Enka

    refers to two styles of Japanese music. The first is speeches set to music which were sung and spread by political activists during the Meiji period and the Taisho period as a means to avoid crackdowns by the government on speeches of political dissent....
     song
  • That's the Way (I Like It)
    That's the Way (I Like It)

    "That's the Way " is a song written by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch, and recorded and released in 1975 by KC and the Sunshine Band for their eponymous second album....
     - KC and the Sunshine Band
    KC and the Sunshine Band

    KC and the Sunshine Band is an United States musical group. Founded in 1973, their style has included funk, rhythm and blues, and disco. Their most well known songs include the disco hits "That's the Way ", " Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love", "Get Down Tonight", "Give It Up", and "Please Don't Go"....
  • Night of Fire - Niko
    Niko (musician)

    Niko is Seattle, Washington-born musician Nicole Vergel De Dios, to Japanese and Spain parents.She completed a Jazz and Contemporary Music Degree from the The New School in New York City, prior to signing to Grand Central Records independent record label in 2002....
  • Nowhere - Faze4
  • O.P.P.
    O.P.P. (song)

    "O.P.P." is a 1991 song recorded by rap group Naughty by Nature. The song made it to the US Top 40 , propelling their self titled album Naughty by Nature to platinum status....
     - Naughty By Nature
    Naughty by Nature

    Naughty by Nature is a Grammy Award-winning United States Hip hop music group that at the time of its formation in 1989 consisted of Treach, Vin Rock, and the DJ Kay Gee....
  • Everybody Dance - Chic
    Chic (band)

    Chic is an United States disco and R&B band that was formed in 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bass guitar Bernard Edwards. It is best-known for its commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " , "Everybody Dance" , "Le Freak" , "I Want Your Love " , "Good Times " , and "My Forbidden Lover" ....
  • Synchronized Love Millennium - Joe Rinoie
    Joe Rinoie

    is a singer, keyboardist, saxophone player and composer. His father is Japanese while his mother is an Chinese in Japan, thus he is mixed half-Chinese, half-Japanese....


External links